Silva to lead JLL statewide capital markets team

Julia Silva, who as managing director of commercial real estate broker firm Cushman & Wakefield’s industrial team has been a leader in both leasing and sales of warehouse sites and high-tech, e-commerce fulfillment centers throughout the Tampa Bay area, has joined rival JLL.

At her new firm, however, Silva will co-direct capital markets efforts involving industrial properties throughout Florida — a significant shift in roles and responsibilities.

For JLL, hiring Silva enhances its capital markets team and provides immediate and largely unparalleled expertise in industrial real estate.

“Julia’s interfacing and relationships with institutional owners are phenomenal, and she has an incredible client base,” says Tim Rivers, JLL’s market leader for Florida. “The trust in her is fantastic, and that means a lot to us.”

Silva’s institutional clients have included Cabot Properties, Exeter Property Group, Colony Northstar, Evergreen Industrial Property, High Street Realty Co., Keating Resources, McCraney Property Co. and Transwestern Development Co.

Silva, who declined to comment on the move, is expected to begin work fully at JLL on Feb. 1.

She will team with Bret Felberg, a capital markets veteran who currently works out of the firm’s Orlando office. Felberg also is expected to make the move to Tampa in February.

Silva joined Cushman & Wakefield in 2013 from Penn Florida Cos., where she oversaw and worked on a $50 million portfolio. Previously, she also worked for Duke Realty Co., Liberty Property Trust and Prologis, one of the largest institutional owners of industrial owners of real estate nationwide.

In all, Silva has been involved with Tampa-area commercial real estate industry since 1992, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s website. Beginning in 2015 and in each of the three subsequent years, Silva was named the Florida Gulfcoast Commercial Association’s top industrial producer, and in 2012 she led Commercial Real Estate Women Tampa Bay, where she also was a founding board member.

In 2018, Silva and her team at Cushman & Wakefield leased or sold more than four million square feet in 100 separate transactions, including deals with Amazon, Pepperidge Farm, Chewy.com, Star Distribution and others.

“She’ll be a needle-mover for us, no question,” Rivers says. “We’re so excited that Julia’s coming over to us.”